I am going on the "Best of Europe in 21 days" in June and was wondering what are some things we have to see that aren't in the the tour that we can do during our free time?
Posted by
victoria, Canada
11507 posts
Well many of us are not familar with all the sites covered on that tour, but, I am taking a family tour ( 14 days) this July and I found out what exactly is on the schedule for Paris as I will be spending a week there before the trip and almost a week after and I didn't want to duplicate sites.
I found out on our tour we did not do the Towers at Notre Dame, and my daughter really wants to do those, and I found out they do not have time for Versailles which we also want to do, so ,, I suggest you do a quick scan of most of your stops ,think about what YOU most want to see in each of those stops, then contact the tour department and see if they are covered,, if not, put them on a " spare time list" with some transportation info so if you have an afternoon off you can just go!
Posted by
Clarkston, USA
192 posts
In Haarlem--the Frans Hals Museum, and the Corrie ten Boom Museum. If you are not familiar with Corrie, read "The Hiding Place" or at least rent the movie before you go. It's an amazing tour, takes about an hour, and the guides do NOT preach at you, as some people have said.
Amsterdam--you might want to add the Dutch Resistance Museum to your list. Takes 30-60 minutes depending on how slowly you walk. :) Amazing what those folks were able to do to help their country.
good restaurant in Amst.--The Taj Mahal. Try the 'butter chicken'...ummmmmm!
Rome--Palatine Hill by all means. Worth the time, worth the climb.
Posted by
Los Angeles, CA, USA
1449 posts
Kathy, they will send you Rick's Europe guide book when you book (I assume you already have it). I did the this tour last year and many people on it just showed up and figured they'd be led around everywhere; they were reading the chapters for the 1st time on the bus. Which is ok, its their vacation.
My advice is to approach the trip as if it was your very own; you know the places you'll visit, now read thru the guidebook (and perhaps others) to figure out what you're going to see & do. For one thing, guides have some discretion; while the tour brochure lists places you're sure to visit each guide will also work in some of their favorites. In other words, nobody really knows what you will and won't see. And while I hope you get some useful tips here, the whole point of guidebooks are to explain what to see and how to prioritize your time. Think of it as practice this go-around for when you do your own independent trips.